Molded articles, the surface of which is decorated with a woodgrain tone, a metallic tone (metallic luster) or the like, are used in building materials, automobile interior components, home electric appliances, OA equipment or the like. Many of these molded articles have a complicated three-dimensional shape, and studies have been heretofore made on a method for easily and conveniently decorating the complicatedly-shaped, molded article with high design property.
As such a decoration method, a hydraulic transfer method using a hydraulic pressure is known, and the hydraulic transfer method is known to be a curved surface decoration method that is excellent in transfer processability to a three-dimensional surface, “deepness” of clear coatability etc., and design property which ensure that a high-quality pattern can be presented.
Meanwhile, in recent years, consumers have become demanding on design property, and particularly in metallic-tone (metallic luster) decoration, not only high brightness but also luxuriousness have been required. There has been proposed a technique for solving these problems using, for example, a layer that exhibits brightness and an irregularity shape that is formed by embossing, specifically a hydraulic transfer sheet including a cellulose nitrate/alkyd-based transparent resin layer on a water-soluble film, and a vapor deposition metal layer on the transparent resin layer, wherein the transparent resin layer is embossed between the vapor deposition metal layer and the transparent resin layer (Patent Document 1).
Use of the hydraulic transfer sheet described in Patent Document 1 makes it possible to perform curved surface transfer because at the time when the sheet extends during hydraulic transfer, fine cracks (cracking) are generated in the vapor deposition metal layer, so that the vapor deposition metal layer also extends. However, there is the problem that design property significantly vary depending on a size of the crack width of cracks generated in the vapor deposition metal layer during hydraulic transfer, and when the crack width is large, luxuriousness of the pattern is impaired.